1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to winch connecting apparatus, and more specifically to a device capable of attaching a winch to a box hitch, wherein the winch can be positioned in various orientations in order to provide a plurality of pulling angles.
2. Prior Art
Traditionally, winch connectors permitted a winch to be attached to a truck's box or ball hitch in one position only, thereby limiting the number of pulling angles the winch could provide. This is due to the fact that most winches were used for only a single purpose (i.e., pulling a boat out of the water, pulling stumps out of the ground, pulling a car onto the truck's bed, etc.,) thus only a limited number of pulling angles were required. If it was necessary to utilize the winch for any other purpose that required a pulling angle outside the scope of possible pulling angles, either the truck carrying the winch had to be repositioned to place the winch in an appropriate position or, barring that, it was simply impossible to perform the necessary task.
Situations where a large variety of pulling angles may be necessary are, for instance, when a truck's front and rear wheels on one side are in a ditch and the only pulling point is adjacent the side of the truck not in the ditch. If the winch is usually used for pulling a boat out of the water it is not possible for the winch to draw cable around the pulling point and pull the truck out of the ditch. Rather, in this situation it is necessary to have a winch capable of pulling in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the truck in order to pull the truck out of the ditch. There are innumerable other situations where it may be necessary to utilize a winch over a large range of pulling angles but the prior art suggests no ways of achieving this in a practical manner. In furtherance thereof, it may also be useful to provide a transportable box hitch in which a universal winch connector may be positioned in order to use the winch in a variety of locations (i.e., on the side of a truck, or on an outside wall of a house, etc.).
3. Objects and Advantages
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a universal winch connector that permits the winch to be used over a large range of pulling angles.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a universal winch connector which permits a universal winch connector to be attached to any desired body.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a universal winch connector which is inexpensive and simple to manufacture.
Other objects will in part be obvious and in part appear hereinafter.